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Last year, Miguel Rojas cemented himself in Los Angeles Dodgers history by hitting the tying home run in the ninth inning of Game Seven of the World Series.
On Monday, Rojas decided to run it back in a very familiar fashion.
This time, he hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, which propelled the Dodgers past the Tampa Bay Rays to take the series opener, 4-3.
It was a 3-3 game for five innings until Rojas' pinch-hit dinger.
Eric Lauer took the mound for Los Angeles and was bombarded early. He gave up all of the Rays' runs in the first two innings.
Ryan Vilade took Lauer deep for a two-run shot in the first inning and a Taylor Walls sacrifice bunt would be the only runs that came across for Tampa Bay.
Down 3-0 early, the Dodgers set up Kyle Tucker with runners on first and second and no outs. Tucker delivered and crushed his sixth home run of the year for a three-run shot.
From then on, Lauer settled down on the mound and cruised through the next five innings of work behind some nice plays from the infield behind him.
"I've been kind of having an issue with shooting myself in the foot early in games, it seems," Lauer said on the abrupt start to his outing. "I just got to change my approach a little bit early in the game, I think, and make sure I am really stepping on it from the get-go."
As he stepped off the mound, Lauer went six innings, while striking out four and giving up those three earned runs on six hits.
Fast forward to the seventh, Rojas pinch-hit for Alex Freeland, who was 0-for-2 at the plate before being removed.
He did not miss the first pitch sinker from Rays southpaw Steven Matz and took the go-ahead bomb 380 feet to left field. Almost reminiscent of his home run spectacle back at the Rogers Centre seven months ago.
"It's pretty cool that you're coming off the bench and you're doing your job," Rojas said in the postgame. "I have been working really hard on trying to get better at that because I have never been a really good pinch-hit hitter."
The Dodgers' struggling bullpen kept the Rays at bay for three scoreless innings. Tanner Scott secured the win with his eighth save of the season.
With the win, Los Angeles wins their 46th game of 2026 and has a chance to take another series with Justin Wrobleski toeing the rubber for the Dodgers on Tuesday.
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On Monday, Rojas decided to run it back in a very familiar fashion.
This time, he hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, which propelled the Dodgers past the Tampa Bay Rays to take the series opener, 4-3.
It was a 3-3 game for five innings until Rojas' pinch-hit dinger.
Eric Lauer took the mound for Los Angeles and was bombarded early. He gave up all of the Rays' runs in the first two innings.
Ryan Vilade took Lauer deep for a two-run shot in the first inning and a Taylor Walls sacrifice bunt would be the only runs that came across for Tampa Bay.
Down 3-0 early, the Dodgers set up Kyle Tucker with runners on first and second and no outs. Tucker delivered and crushed his sixth home run of the year for a three-run shot.
From then on, Lauer settled down on the mound and cruised through the next five innings of work behind some nice plays from the infield behind him.
"I've been kind of having an issue with shooting myself in the foot early in games, it seems," Lauer said on the abrupt start to his outing. "I just got to change my approach a little bit early in the game, I think, and make sure I am really stepping on it from the get-go."
As he stepped off the mound, Lauer went six innings, while striking out four and giving up those three earned runs on six hits.
Fast forward to the seventh, Rojas pinch-hit for Alex Freeland, who was 0-for-2 at the plate before being removed.
He did not miss the first pitch sinker from Rays southpaw Steven Matz and took the go-ahead bomb 380 feet to left field. Almost reminiscent of his home run spectacle back at the Rogers Centre seven months ago.
"It's pretty cool that you're coming off the bench and you're doing your job," Rojas said in the postgame. "I have been working really hard on trying to get better at that because I have never been a really good pinch-hit hitter."
The Dodgers' struggling bullpen kept the Rays at bay for three scoreless innings. Tanner Scott secured the win with his eighth save of the season.
With the win, Los Angeles wins their 46th game of 2026 and has a chance to take another series with Justin Wrobleski toeing the rubber for the Dodgers on Tuesday.
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Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
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